Carding arrangement for deep pile knitting machines

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for collecting a stream of elongated fibers, transporting the fibers to a distributing means, and distributing the collected fibers to the needles of a knitting machine for producing fur-like fabrics. A generally conical shaped collecting nozzle directs the stream of loose fibers to a section of an endless belt. The belt aids in carrying the collected fibers to a pressure roller assembly for drawing the fibers through the nozzle and for compressing the collected fibers into a compacted form before delivering the fibers to the distribution means. The distribution means takes the form of a rotating drum, the outer surface of which is provided with flexible prongs which engage the endless belt along a portion of the periphery of the drum, the terminal portions of the prongs thereby permitting carding and combing operations on the fibers carried by the endless belt. The terminal portions of the prongs are in the form of hooks for carrying the carded fibers beyond the point of contact of the belt with the periphery of the drum to deliver the fibers to the needles of a knitting machine which removes the fibers from the periphery of the carding drum.

[ 1 Aug. 22, 1972 I54] CARDING ARRANGEMENT FOR DEEP PILE KNITTING MACHINES [72] Inventor: Jean Henri Delberghe, Hermes,

- France [73] Assignee: The Bunker-Ramo Corporation, Oak

Brook, Ill.

[22] Filed: Sept. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.2 69,744

[52] US. Cl. ..66/9 B, 19/105, 19/126,

19/248 1 [51] Int. Cl. ..D04b 9/14 [58] Field of Search.....66/9 B; 19/99, 126, 105,247, 19/248 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 504,648 9/1893 Allen ..19/126 2,471,057 5/1949 Bird 1 9/247 2,680,360 6/ 1954 Schmidt ..66/9 B 2,993,351 7/1961 Wheelock ..66/9 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,239,275 7/1960 France ..66/9 B 457,557 12/1936 Great Britain 19/248 Primary ExaminerRobert R. Mackey Attorney-Frederick M. Arbuckle ABSTRACT Apparatus for collecting a stream of elongated fibers, transporting the fibers to a distributing means, and distributing the collected fibers to the needles of a knitting machine for producing fur-like fabrics. A generally conical shaped collecting nozzle directs the stream of loose fibers to asection of an endless belt.

The beltaids in carrying the collected fibers to a pressure roller assembly for drawing the fibers through the nozzle and for compressing the collected fibers into a compacted form before delivering the fibers to the distribution means. The distribution means takes the form of a rotating drum, the outer surface of which'is provided with flexible prongs which engage the endless belt along a portion of the periphery of the drum, the terminal portions of the prongs thereby permitting carding and combing operations on the fibers carried by the endless belt. The terminal portions of the prongs are in the form of hooks for carrying the carded fibers beyond the point of contact of the belt with the periphery of the drum to deliver the fibers to the needles of a knitting machine which removes the fibers from the periphery of the carding drum.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDnuszz I972 SHEET 1 BF 2 yhs - ATTORNEY INVENTOR Henri lie/b0 CARDING ARRANGEMENT FOR DEEP PILE KNITTING MACHINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past, fabrics knitted to render a fur-like surface were produced with circular knitting machines designed exclusively for this particular purpose. These machines are provided with a number of devices for feeding fibers to the knitting mechanism. The feeding devices are mounted at the circumference of a needlecarrying cylinder which is termed a blender. When the knitting needles at the blender approach the area in which the device is located, the knitting needles are lifted so that the needle hook can catch both the fibers forming the fur-like surface and the thread forming the jersey base. Subsequently, the needles are lowered to form the meshes of the jersey. In this way, a fabric is obtained whose base is formed by meshes of thread, while each of the meshes retains a cluster of fibers forming the fur on the inside of the fabric.

A number of meshes are formed in each of the devices during one revolution of the knitting machine. Thus, at otherwise equal conditions, a machine equipped with two devices produces in a given time interval twice as much fabric as a machine equipped with single device.

The output of knitting machines for producing furlike fabrics then depends to a large entent upon the number of feeding devices which can be installed. The advantages resulting from an increase in the number of feeding devices cooperating with such knitting machines have been recognized for some time, but in practice only a small number of the devices could be used due to their extreme complexities, high installation and large weight, and space requirements.

Devices of this type must be capable of providing constant quantities of fibers and distributing them uniformly over the needles of the knitting machine. To date, no practical solution of this problem has been proposed.

Apparatus which is currently used comprises cylinders for introducing a fiber sliver, a carding drum, one or several drums for aligning or drafting the fibers, a combing drum, and a distributing drum. The velocity of each of these parts can be varied and must be separately adjustable, thus requiring these parts to be very complex, occupy much space, and have a high inertia, so that strong heavy duty motors are required, and special machinery of great mechanical strength must be built.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention creates an improved apparatus of simple design for feeding in fibers, for combing, carding, and distributing the fibers to the needles of known machines for jersey knitting in order to obtain fur-like fabrics without the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for feeding fibers to the needles of a knitting machine, wherein collection of the fibers and distribution of the fibers to the needles is accomplished by a simple device capable of providing constant quantities of fibers and distributing them uniformly to the knitting machine needles.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device as defined above, wherein distribution is accomplished by a rotatably mounted carding drum for carding and combing the fibers as they are transported to the knitting machine needles.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device as defined above wherein transportation of the fibers is accomplished by means of an endless belt, the belt being engageable with a portion of the periphery of the carding drum.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a device as defined above, wherein loose fibers are collected by a nozzle and delivered to a compression device prior to being carded and combed by the carding drum.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a unique and novel carding drum which is characterized by a plurality of hooked prongs inclined at an angle with respect to a diameter line of the drum, the prongs being effective to impart carding and combing action to a stream of fibers at the outer periphery of the drum.

The apparatus of the present invention delivers fibers to the needles of knitting machines in the best possible condition. The apparatus is of simple design and of low cost. The apparatus has a low weight and a small inertia. The apparatus can be installed in all known knitting machines without need for structural reinforcements. The apparatus requires only very small increases in driving power. Since the apparatus occupies little space, a large number of feeding devices can be operated with each knitting machine.

Consequently, in practical application of the invention, the output of knitting machines can be increased with an accompanying reduction of production cost. Thus, utilizing this invention in present installations, it is possible to greatly shorten the amortization time for the machine installation per yard of fabric produced.

The fiber-feeding apparatus of the invention comprises an endless belt for introducing a sliver of fibers through a nozzle. The fibers are alignedand ordered before they arrive at a rotating drum carrying aflexible card clothing with hooks, which acts simultaneously as a card, comb, and distributor. The endless belt is in contact with the card along a section of the drum periphery. The speed on the periphery of the rotating drum is greater than the speed of the endless belt and also greater than the speed of the blender in the knitting machine to which the apparatus is attached. The drum is mounted on the machine so that the needles, during their lifting, penetrate the card clothing and collect and retain the fibers carried by the card clothing.

A cylinder, which rests on the endless belt and is driven with a peripheral speed equal to that of the belt, is mounted upstream of the belt section in contact with the card clothing. This cylinder cooperates with the belt to draw, draft, and compress the fiber sliver at the exit of the nozzle. This results in uniform feeding and a constant supply maintained between the endless belt and the card drum. Complete carding of the fibers in the sliver is obtained, and the card is provided with a plurality of prongs, forming a card clothing, which act to separate the various fibers in the moving sliver. The rotation of the band results in a combing effect for the fibers at the needle tips of the knitting machine. The fibers are combed against the belt which disperses the fibers uniformly and arranges them in parallel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As can be seen particularly in FIG.'1, the invention is used in a knitting machine having a blender which carries at'its outer surface latch-type knitting needles 20.

The knitting needles can move in a vertical direction and are kept in motion by any known means such as by lifters 30 which act upon butts 40 on the needles. Sinkers 50, which can move in radial direction with respect to the circular shaped blender 10, are mounted on a sinker ring 60 concentric to blender 10. The sinkers, which are actuated by sinker lifters 70, retain the finished jersey 280 and help the knitting needles 20 in forming new meshes. These parts and their functions are well known in the art and will not be described below.

The fiber-feeding apparatus of the invention comprises a carding drum 80 which is rotatable about a horizontal shaft 210 and carries a card clothing (prongs 100) on its periphery. The card consists of a base backing 90 and prongs 100 which are flexibly mounted. Each prong 100 consists of a base section 1 10 emerging from base backing 90 and inclined in a direction opposite to the relative direction F of rotation of drum 80. The free end of each prong 100 ends in a short terminal section 120 which is inclined in the direction of rotation of drum 80 with respect to the base section 1 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the angle A defines the rearward inclination of base section 110 of prongs 100. This angle is measured from a diameter line of drum 80 passing through the base of each prong 100. The angle A can assume a value of between 20 and 70 and 40 is a preferred value.

Terminal section 120 of each prong 100 extends from base section 110 of the same prong at an angle B which can assume a value of between 100 and 170, with a preferred value of 135.

An endless belt 130 is driven by a drive roller 150, the surface 170 of which has a high coefficient of friction. Belt 130 can be adjusted in its length and tension thereby setting the contact pressure between belt 130 and the card clothing 100 by adjusting the position of cylinder 140.

Directly above roller 150, on the opposite side of the belt 130 there is mounted a pressure roller 180 which is under constant pressure force extended by an adequate elastic means, for example, spring 190. Rollers 150 and 180 are mounted as close as possible to the outer end of the terminal sections 120 of the prongs on drum 80.

Roller 160 forms a constraint for endless belt 130 by forcing the belt to follow a portion of the periphery of drum 80. Roller 160 is mounted as close as possible to the card prongs, and at a distance from roller 150 at least equal to the length of the fibers to be treated.

A tube 310 which is termed a nozzle and has the general shape of a truncated cone is designed so that its large outer diameter corresponds to the diameter of the I loose stream of fibers supplied to the apparatus. Nozzle 310 is positioned adjacent the outer surface of belt 130 converging in the direction of motion of belt 130. The nozzle 310 occupies a space above a straight section of the belt 130 between cylinder 140 and rollers 150 and 180.

Shaft 210 of drum and the shaft of the impelling roller 150 can be driven by a single driving shaft 220 (FIG. 2) with intermediate members 240 which allow a variation of the rotation rates of the shafts.

Driving shaft 220 can be connected to the transmission of the knitting machine by means of an appropriate chain so that drum 80 assumes a speed on its circumference which is greater than the advance rate of the endless belt andgreater than the speed of the circumference of the blender of the knitting machine.

The shaft of pressure roller 180 can be directly connected to the driving'roller 150, for example by suitable gear means, so that the speed on the circumference is always equal to the advance rate of belt 130. In this manner, a steady flow of the sliver material 300 results from the combined efiect of pressure roller 180, belt 130, and driving roller '150.

Cylinder for adjusting the tension of belt l30can run idly on its shaft.

During the operation, a sliver of fibers 300 arrives on the upper side of the (essentially) horizontal belt 130.

This sliver of fibers moves toward the large opening of nozzle 310, is drawn through the nozzle by the pulling action of belt 130 and pressure roller 180 resting upon driving roller 150, and leaves through the smaller opening in a slightly stretched, compacted, and aligned state.

The sliver of fibers 300 is compressed by pressure roller 180 and forced to follow the course determined by the continuous rotation of pressure roller 180 and the advance of belt 130. The fibers then come into contact with the card clothing on drum 80. The speed on the circumference of drum 80 is greater than the advance rate of belt 130, and therefore the sliver fibers resting on the belt is vehemently combed. The card clothing pushes the free fibers over driving roller keeping the fibers closely aligned. The rotation, combined with the upward translation of needles 20 in the knitting machine, transports the fibers to the tips of the needles 20 and entangles the fibers in the needles 20. Only the fibers which are seized in the middle by the needle tips are retained, since fibers which are seized at some other point are not in an equilibrium position and are pushed with their greater end to the prongs of the card. These fibers are then once more fed to the needles after another rotation of drum 80.

Immediately after the fibers have been supplied to the drum 80, the needles 20 are provided with thread by known means. After that, the needles are lowered to form new meshes which retain the base of the fiber bunch fed to each needle. The threads form the basic mesh network of the jersey, whereas the fibers form the fur-like surface cover on the jersey.

The size of the various parts of the fiber-feeding apparatus of the invention may be very small. The reduced space requirements of the improved and simplified apparatus of the invention make it possible to plied to the knitting machine. In other words, in each revolution of the machine, one can produce a greater number of mesh rows than in apparatus of the previous art.

Due to its low weight and low inertia, the apparatus of this invention can be mounted on low cost jersey knitting machines which have not been specially designed for the production of fur-like fabrics. Additionally, modification of existing jersey knitting machines is easily accomplished to aid the producer already in production but without the capability of producing fur-like fabrics.

The increased fabric output on the one hand and the reduction of the cost of both the machine and the production on the other make it possible to lower the retail price of the fabrics produced without losses in quality.

The present invention was explained and described by way of a preferred embodiment, and it is understood that one can introduce modified elements without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined by the following claims.

What I claim is: 1. Apparatus useful for the carding, combing and distribution of fibers to the needles of a knitting machine of the type which knits fur-like fabrics, comprising; a rotatably mounted drum having on its periphery a flexible card clothing including a plurality of prongs, said drum being adapted for positioning immediately adjacent the needles of a knitting machine whereby said needles may take fibers conditionally held by said drum;

an endless belt continuously defining first and second belt sections, said first belt section being disposed up stream of said drum and said second belt section being in tensioned engagement with and conforming to a portion of said peripherally mounted card clothing, the down stream extent of said second belt section being immediately adjacent the position at which said needles take fibers from said drum;

means for driving said drum and said belt such that the second belt section and the portion of the card clothing in engagement therewith both move in the direction for said needles with the peripheral velocity of the card clothing being greater than the linear velocity of said belt;

and means introducing a sliver of fibers upon the surface of said first belt section whereby the fibers contained in said sliver are transported by said first belt section to positions between said second belt section and card clothing for carding, combing and distributing the fibers to the knitting needles.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a pressure roller positioned adjacent that surface of the belt which engages said card clothing and at a position thereon located at the down stream end of said first belt section, said pressure roller effecting compression of said fibers prior to being carded, combed and distributed by said card clothing.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein there is provided a driver roller positioned substantially parallel to the surface of said pressure roller with the periphery 25.5 am .at"l:sgsszrsrllmss a lssm is? engages said card clothing to impart movement to said belt, said drive roller cooperating with said pressure roller to effect compression of said fibers between said pressure roller and said belt.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the prongs of said flexible card clothing each have a relatively long base section immediately adjacent said drum and a relatively short terminal section, extending the periphery of said clothing, said base section being inclined a direction generally opposite to the direction of drum rotation and said terminal section being inclined generally in the direction of drum rotation.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the base section of each prong and the terminal section of each prong bears a predetermined orientation with respect to a diameter line passing through the center of said drum, the base section including an angle of between 20 and with respect to said diameter line, and the terminal section being oriented with respect to its corresponding base section to include an angle of between and 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a nozzle adjacent to the outer surface of said first belt section and having the general shape of a truncated cone converging in the direction of said belt, said nozzle being positioned for collecting fibers introduced upon said first belt section. 

1. Apparatus useful for the carding, combing and distribution of fibers to the needles of a knitting machine of the type which knits fur-like fabrics, comprising; a rotatably mounted drum having on its periphery a flexible card clothing including a plurality of prongs, said drum being adapted for positioning immediately adjacent the needles of a knitting machine whereby said needles may take fibers conditionally held by said drum; an endless belt continuously defining first and second belt sections, said first belt section being disposed up stream of said drum and said second belt section being in tensioned engagement with and conforming to a portion of said peripherally mounted card clothing, the down stream extent of said second belt section being immediately adjacent the position at which said needles take fibers from said drum; means for driving said drum and said belt such that the second belt section and the portion of the card clothing in engagement therewith both move in the direction for said needles with the peripheral velocity of the card clothing being greater than the linear velocity of said belt; and means introducing a sliver of fibers upon the surface of said first belt section whereby the fibers contained in said sliver are transported by said first belt section to positions between said second belt section and card clothing for carding, combing and distributing the fibers to the knitting needles.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a pressure roller positioned adjacent that surface of the belt which engages said card clothing and at a position thereon located at the down stream end of said first belt section, said pressure roller effecting compression of said fibers prior to being carded, combed and distributed by said card clothing.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein there is provided a driver roller positioned substantially parallel to the surface of said pressure roller with the periphery of said drive roller frictionally engaging that surface of said belt which is opposite to the surface thereof which engages said card clothing to impart movement to said belt, said drive roller cooperating with said pressure roller to effect compression of said fibers between said pressure roller and said belt.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the prongs of said flexible card clothing each have a relatively long base section immediately adjacent said drum and a relatively short terminal section, extending to the periphery of said clothing, said base section being inclined a direction generally opposite to the direction of drum rotation and said terminal section being inclined generally in the direction of drum rotation.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the base section of each prong and the terminal section of each prong bears a predetermined orientation with respect to a diameter line passing through the center of said drum, the base section including an angle of between 20* and 70* with respect to said diameter line, and the terminal section being oriented with respect to its corresponding base section to include an angle of between 100* and 170*.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a nozzle adjacent to the outer surface of said first belt section and having the general shape of a truncated cone converging in the direction of said belt, said nozzle being positioned for collecting fibers introduced upon said first belt section. 